A comment: this game gets portrayed quite a bit in samurai anime. The impact of gambling on the lives of people back then is probably well-researched as well. Such as fathers gambling away their money, and daughters being sold into prostitution to make up for the debt. (that’s one theme you’ll see in Samurai Champloo for example, but I’ve seen it elsewhere also (can’t remember where)).
The Pachinko culture is strong with Japan as well, though it’s not deemed gambling since you can’t earn money, just prizes from it. For some reason I’ve always thought this semi-gambling might have been a reaction to the older gambling games such as 丁半 or 麻雀 (マージャン) - as a safer venue for the same urges to bet money. 
